What is abhinaya? Does it really just mean ‘expression’? Etymologically, abhinaya comes from two words ‘abhi’ (towards) and ‘niya’ (leading). So, Abhinaya leads you, the audience towards something. And what […]
Workshop Coming Soon …
We are conducting a dance workshop (followed by a performance) soon … I will share the details in the next few days!
Biskitwali
My dance teacher regularly gives the Salvation Army children food and biscuits, so everyone there, from the workers to the watchman’s son, knows her. The little ones have given her […]
International Dance Day
It’s International Dance Day! The best day, perhaps, to pay tribute to my guru, Guru Mythili Raghavan. Nobody can quite understand why she means so much to us. Why is […]
Thank you!
For all those who came and watched me and listened to me at Art Hop Pune, thank you! I began with almost no one in my audience. In five minutes, […]
Lecture Demonstration at Art Hop Pune
Nritta is one of the two pillars of the magnificent structure called dance. Nritta is pure technique, with no hidden symbolism, no complex meaning and no detailed explanation involved. What […]
Workshop on Rasa at Art Hop Pune
I will be facilitating a short workshop on Rasa: Understanding the Aesthetics of Indian Classical Dance on Sunday the 27th of April, 2014, at Oakwood Sen5es at 5pm as part […]
Women of Pride
Women of Pride unravelled a lot of questions before proceeding to respond to them, at least in part . There was so much about the devadasis that I did not […]
Ram Navami
Three years ago, we performed on a beautiful stage as part of the Kannada Sangha celebrations in Pune. I can’t quite believe that it was three years ago. Waiting to […]
Arangetram
Often, invitation cards say that ‘Arangetram’ means ‘ascending the stage’. Theoretically, all of us know that it is our first stage programme. Then why is it supposed to be so […]
Baby Krishna
Finally, here are a few photographs of the baby that everyone loved so much. It’s a doll, yes, a doll, made by my French mother. It’s not a real baby, […]
PMC Award!
When we introduce my teacher, we always talk about the prestigious Iyal Isai Nadagam award that she received. We have so many things to say about her, about countries she’s […]
Performed Yesterday!
There’s nothing in the world like the thrill of performing. Even if it’s just a tiny performance at my teacher’s place. Nothing much went wrong. There were no black-outs, but […]
Performing on Tuesday
The thrill of performing is here again! A little performance, a private performance this time – not on a stage, and for barely twenty people. “We’ll do it in a […]
Radha and Krishna – the eternal romance
Radha and Krishna sit together in the forest, making sweet small talk. The trees, creepers and deer are all around. It’s beautiful. A dancer and I sat together on a […]
Nehru Bal Sangh
One fine day in 1964, a group of fifth class students envisaged a forum where all of them could meet and spread the message of love, brotherhood and harmony to […]
Dashami
Yes, I know many would disagree and say that tomorrow is Dashami, not today. But we celebrated it today. Last year, my dance teacher was not here, and somehow, we […]
Swarada Datar
Where does the beauty of dance lie? When it comes to Bharatanatyam, particularly the Pandanallur style, surely it’s in the lines, the perfect geometry and the crisp, precise body movements. […]
Yesterday
Yesterday, we performed again. We were early. The audience was late. We started half an hour late, after our lovely organiser called out on the mike to the society and […]
Performing today!
When we performed on Ganesh Chaturti for our society, despite all the hitches, we were asked to repeat our performance. We’re not quite repeating it; we’ve chosen different pieces this […]